Centre, states in Catch-22 situation, says Aaditya Thackeray on Bandra clash
The workers defied the lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus, gathered at the Bandra railway station and demanded transport to return home in different states.
Shortly after the Mumbai Police launched a lathi charge to disperse hundreds of protesting migrant workers near Bandra railway station who defied a lockdown to get a ride home in other states, Maharashtra Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray said the Centre and states are facing a Catch-22 situation.
“The centre has taken immediate cognizance of the issue and is assisting the State actively. We understand the catch 22 situation centre and states face. I’m thankful to PM & HM for understanding the situation, while trying to ensure the safety of home states of migrants,” he tweeted.
“The migrant labour issue persists everywhere. Even as we house more than 6 lakh migrant labour, with breakfast lunch and dinner, the Union and State Govts are coordinating on further relief for the same. We will continue to ensure the comfort of all migrant labour in our camps,” he said in another tweet.
Watch | Mumbai: Wave of migrant workers swamp bus stand after lockdown extension
The mass gathering in the middle of a lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus also threw social distancing out of the window.
Union home minister Amit Shah had called Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and expressed concern over the Bandra gathering. Shah stressed that such events weaken India’s fight against coronavirus and the administration needs to stay vigilant to avoid such incidents.
Before the “Catch-22” tweet, Aaditya Thackeray had blamed the Centre for the situation leading to the lathi charge and sought a “mutual road map” to help the workers reach home in different states.
The trouble began hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown till May 3. Hundreds of migrant workers, mostly daily wage earners, headed for the Bandra railway station in the afternoon demanding transport to return to their native places.
“The current situation in Bandra, now dispersed or even the rioting in Surat is a result of the union government not being able to take a call on arranging a way back home migrant labour. They don’t want food or shelter, they want to go back home,” Thackeray had tweeted in one of his first reactions.
He also said that the state government had raised the issue of enabling the workers to return home.
“A mutual road map set by Union Govt will largely help migrant labour to reach home from one state to another safely and efficiently. Time and again this issue has been raised with the centre,” he said in another tweet.
Thackeray said the feedback from all migrant labour camps indicate that these workers want to return home.
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